The Divided Democrats: Ideological Unity, Party Reform, And Presidential Elections [Paperback]

Forthcoming Titles -- Foreword -- Introduction: Party Unity and Presidential Elections -- Do Democratic Rules Make the Nomination Process More Divisive? -- The Divisive Primary Revisited -- Ideological Cohesion in the American Party System -- Ideological Cohesion over Time: The Origin and Evolution of the Party Coalitions -- Group Appeals and the Democratic Coalition -- The Politics of Democratic Disunity -- Variables Used in the Probit Equations in Chapter 3 -- Measuring Ideological Cohesion -- Open-Ended Responses on Group-Related Themes and IssuesDo Democrats have greater difficulty maintaining party unity than Republicans? William Mayer argues that they do, chiefly because the Democrats are a more ideologically diverse, less cohesive party. After extensively documenting the Democrats' traditional problems of division and disagreement, Mayer presents evidence suggesting that the Republican advantage over the Democrats has finally started to narrowraising important questions about the future of the Republican coalition.This book argues that Democrats have greater difficulty maintaining party unity than Republicans, chiefly because the Democrats are a more ideologically diverse, less cohesive party. It discusses Democrat's implications for interest groups, party reform, and American politics in general.William G. Mayer is assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University.USCopyright ? 1996 Taylor & Francis